Winds of Change: Launching the Integrated Guide for Business to Help Companies Tackle Super Pollutants in Their Supply Chains

The imperative for mitigating emissions in private sector supply chains is undeniable. Reports indicate that just eight global supply chains are responsible for over 50% of global CO₂ emissions. But climate change is only part of the story. Many of these same emissions—especially super pollutants like methane, black carbon, and hydrofluorocarbons—also contribute to dangerous levels of air pollution, threatening public health and food security.  

Air pollution and climate change

Air pollution and climate change are deeply interconnected, with many air pollutants—such as methane and black carbon—also acting as powerful climate forcers. Because they often stem from the same sources, efforts to reduce air pollution can also drive climate action, delivering fast, cost-effective benefits for both health and the planet. Recognizing this, the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) has spent over a decade partnering with governments to integrate air pollution into national climate strategies, helping countries create plans that tackle super pollutants alongside their climate and development goals. Now, that same science-based, field-tested approach must be applied with equal urgency to emissions in the private sector.

Adapting CCAC’s work for the private sector

The private sector plays a critical role in driving down supply chain air pollutant emissions. While companies contribute significantly to these emissions, they have historically lacked the tools to effectively measure and manage their impact. Until recently, quantification and reporting efforts were limited—but momentum is building for mandatory reporting requirements that would legally compel companies to account for their air pollution emissions.

Seeing the opportunity for private sector action on super pollutants, in 2019, IKEA and the CCAC joined together to adapt this proven methodology for national emissions to global supply chains.  

“It started with the question: How can we come up with something that allows us to act across the full value chain?” said Martina Otto, Head of the CCAC Secretariat.

Together with the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), the CCAC developed a pioneering guide -- A Practical Guide For Business: Air Pollutant Emission Assessment -- that gave the private sector an essential framework to begin quantifying the air pollutant emissions embedded within their complex value chains. It enabled businesses to create a global overview of their air pollution emissions to spur action and emissions reductions.

The Guide was quickly adopted by the World Economic Forum’s Alliance for Clean Air, a group of business leaders committed to measuring and reducing value chain air pollutant emissions, investing in innovation, and working with policymakers and peers to champion the social, economic, and climate benefits of tackling air pollution. Using the Guide, air pollutant emissions have now been included in more than 10 inventories from companies like IKEA, Maersk, Bloomberg, Haleon, and Accenture, as part of their sustainability reporting. Some members of the Alliance are now developing future scenarios, exploring the impact of their existing decarbonization strategies on air pollutant emissions.

Launching the updated Integrated Guide for Business Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollutant Emission Assessment

Today, that effort takes a major step forward with the launch of an updated guide for the private sector -- the Integrated Guide for Business Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollutant Emission Assessment. Building on lessons learned from early adopters and reflecting the latest science and reporting practices, the new version offers clearer methodologies, expanded emissions factors, and guidance that is more tailored to the real-world needs of companies looking to embed air pollution in their environmental reporting and action plans.  

“We wanted to take all the experience the CCAC has working on the national and local level and answer a very simple question: How can the private sector quantify air pollutant emissions in the same way?” stated Eleni Michalopoulou, Project Fellow (SEI) at the World Economic Forum.

With the integrated guide in hand, companies now have an even stronger toolkit to measure and reduce their impact—paving the way for cleaner air, a more stable climate, and a healthier future for all.